20th Century Opera? Where should I go next?

[Mirror Image]

Hello Everyone,

I listened to Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle today and found this work to be endearing and quite beautiful. I have already heard Delius' A Village Romeo & Juliet and Fennimore and Gerda and enjoy both. I also enjoyed Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande, which I own two versions of one with Boulez (Sony) and the other with Abbado. I have also heard Szymanowski's King Roger, which was a very pleasing listen for me. I have also heard Berg's Wozzeck and Lulu. These scared the hell out of me.

Where whould I go next?

[Brahmsian]

MI, it's great to hear that you are starting to enjoy some opera!    I was in the same boat a 3 years ago, where I could not stand opera at all.

For 20th Century opera, I cannot recommend highly enough Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.  I don't have a specific CD recording recommendation, but I can very highly recommend this DVD:

[Mirror Image]

MI, it's great to hear that you are starting to enjoy some opera!    I was in the same boat 3 years ago, where I could not stand opera at all.

For 20th Century opera, I cannot recommend highly enough Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.  I don't have a specific CD recording recommendation, but I can very highly recommend this DVD:

Yes, I have seen you were watching this many weeks ago and remembered that you enjoyed it. I have read somewhere that this opera upset Stalin. Is this true? Thanks for the recommendation.

Have you heard Janacek's operas? I'm trying to find operas that are more on the same lines as the ones I have been enjoying (i. e. Bluebeard's Castle, King Roger, Pelleas et Melisande), any recommendations?

[Brahmsian]

Yes, I have seen you were watching this many weeks ago and remembered that you enjoyed it. I have read somewhere that this opera upset Stalin. Is this true? Thanks for the recommendation.

Have you heard Janacek's operas? I'm trying to find operas that are more on the same lines as the ones I have been enjoying (i. e. Bluebeard's Castle, King Roger, Pelleas et Melisande), any recommendations?

Yes, Stalin was upset by this work, for its racy content.  Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is the original opera, which was banned, during Stalin's reign....I think!  Later, Shostakovich revised the opera and released it as Katerina Izmaylova, opera, Op. 114.  When Stalin died, Lady Macbeth was revived. 

There is also The Nose, by Shostakovich which I hear praised a lot, but I haven't heard it yet.

I haven't heard Janacek's operas, but I was thinking of them when you posed your question.  Probably something we should both check out. 

[Mirror Image]

Yes, Stalin was upset by this work, for its racy content.  Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is the original opera, which was banned, during Stalin's reign....I think!  Later, Shostakovich revised the opera and released it as Katerina Izmaylova, opera, Op. 114.  When Stalin died, Lady Macbeth was revived. 

There is also The Nose, by Shostakovich which I hear praised a lot, but I haven't heard it yet.

I haven't heard Janacek's operas, but I was thinking of them when you posed your question.  Probably something we should both check out. 

I have heard of The Nose, and, like you, have heard it praised a good bit.

Re: Janacek's operas

Yes we should check them out. I might buy the Mackerras set on Decca.

[Air]

Bartok, Duke Bluebeard's Castle
Janacek, all
Prokofiev, all
Ligeti, Le Grand Macabre
Schoenberg, Moses und Aron
Adams, Nixon in China
Stravinsky, The Rake's Progress

[Mirror Image]

Bartok, Duke Bluebeard's Castle
Janacek, all
Prokofiev, all
Ligeti, Le Grand Macabre
Schoenberg, Moses und Aron
Adams, Nixon in China
Stravinsky, The Rake's Progress

I've already heard, and loved, Bluebeard's Castle. I have a recording of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress that came in that big, 21-CD set on Sony that I probably should break out and listen to.

Have you heard Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites? I might pick-up the Nagano recording since I can get pretty cheap. The audio samples sounded quite nice.

[Air]

Have you heard Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites? I might pick-up the Nagano recording since I can get pretty cheap. The audio samples sounded quite nice.

Nope, but I have heard a few good things about it. 

[The new erato]

Hindemith. Particuklarly if you're into brilliant counterpoint. Cardillac by Nagano on DVD, and Harmonie der Welt on CD/Wergo (on offer at mdt) is really thrilling stuff. Prokofievs Fiery Angel, both the Jærvi/DG and Gergiev is good.

[Mirror Image]

Hindemith. Particuklarly if you're into brilliant counterpoint. Cardillac by Nagano on DVD, and Harmonie der Welt on CD/Wergo (on offer at mdt) is really thrilling stuff. Prokofievs Fiery Angel, both the Jærvi/DG and Gergiev is good.

Thanks, Erato I'll checkout Hindemith's and Prokofiev's operas.

[springrite]

I assume you also know some if not most of the Strauss operas?

After that, and after the ones mentioned, I'd also add that Finland is one country where opera has been alive and well for much of the 20th century to the present. I particularly like Sallinen. Try Kullervo, for instance. I have heard 4 of his operas, all are very good.

[The new erato]

I particularly like Sallinen. Try Kullervo, for instance. I have heard 4 of his operas, all are very good.

And a very underrated symphonist. The symphony series on cpo under Rasilainen is pure gold. I tend to think of his symphonies as the nearest thing to an updated Sibelius, at least if we think of Sibelius in terms of his late, fragmented, enigmatic works.

[Wanderer]

I'm trying to find operas that are more on the same lines as the ones I have been enjoying (i. e. Bluebeard's Castle, King Roger, Pelleas et Melisande), any recommendations?

In the same vein, do try Korngold's Die tote Stadt (preferably the Leinsdorf version), Schreker's Die Gezeichneten (the Nagano DVD) and Zemlinsky's Eine florentinische Tragödie (Chailly) and Der Zwerg (Conlon).

I'd second the recommendations for Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Jansons DVD) and Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites (Nagano). Same goes for Janáček and Richard Strauss.

[Mirror Image]

Thanks everyone for you help. I want to checkout: Zemlinsky, Shostakovich, R. Strauss, Schreker (a very underrated composer IMO), and Britten.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Heavyweights in this field are Prokofiev's operas, even though they're low on exposure. But quality isn't the issue - they just lack that "diva" role or a Three Tenor® role which can lure superstar singers, which of course boosts commercial prospects. The road not taken I suppose for Prokofiev. But no harm to the music.

Gergiev's Prokofiev opera series on Philips (now reissued in that Decca box) is stunning and so far is (to my ears) his best work on disc. Prokofiev's heartbeat is everywhere.

Esoteric choice is undoubtedly Martinu. Although CD-wise nothing exists (AFAIK) outside Supraphon's cozy umbrella but unfortunately most are already OOP, with Julietta seemingly the one mainstay in the catalog.
Other operas include Ariane, Comedy On The Bridge, Voice Of The Forest, and his sort of "rag" opera (for TV), Three Wishes.

[Mirror Image]

Heavyweights in this field are Prokofiev's operas, even though they're low on exposure. But quality isn't the issue - they just lack that "diva" role or a Three Tenor® role which can lure superstar singers, which of course boosts commercial prospects. The road not taken I suppose for Prokofiev. But no harm to the music.

Gergiev's Prokofiev opera series on Philips (now reissued in that Decca box) is stunning and so far is (to my ears) his best work on disc. Prokofiev's heartbeat is everywhere.

Esoteric choice is undoubtedly Martinu. Although CD-wise nothing exists (AFAIK) outside Supraphon's cozy umbrella but unfortunately most are already OOP, with Julietta seemingly the one mainstay in the catalog.
Other operas include Ariane, Comedy On The Bridge, Voice Of The Forest, and his sort of "rag" opera (for TV), Three Wishes.

I'm probably pickup that Prokofiev/Gergiev set at some point. Kudos for mentioning it and Martinu's operas, which are seldom discussed. Julietta seems like an interesting one to me.

[listener]

some lighter and shorter ones:
RAVEL   L'enfant et les sortilèges    I find the Previn/LSO quite satisfactory
       L'heure espagnol
POULENC  Les mammelles de Tirésias        -  get a version with libretto!   Ozawa on  Philips was good, the Cluytens EMI came text-free 
(and worth seeing staged,  often with L'enfant..,  I saw this combo in Mexico City, the Met does it in New York.   Both are great fun and I much prefer them above Knussen's Where the Wild Things Are)
and I'd like to encounter  Hilda Tablet again (radio play? I believe I heard it as a "cyrtain-raiser" for The Rake's Progress years ago.
more serious
BRITTEN  Peter Grimes

[snyprrr]

I could not stand opera at all.

i hate the way they sing. can't do it. no. uh uh.

[Benji]

BRITTEN  Peter Grimes

Seconded - this is extremely powerful and there a good few recordings of it on disc. I watched a great DVD of it - Jon Vickers singing the lead - a very emotional experience. That's the Royal Opera House production, Colin Davis conducting.

Also by Britten, Billy Budd. An all-male voice opera about sailors, what's not to like? 

And yeah - the Prokofiev operas i've heard have all been fantastic - The Love for Three Oranges is my favourite, followed by The Fiery Angel. Betrothal at a Monastery was also enjoyable IIRC but I never listened to it more than the one time. I've heard War and Peace is his best, one i'm yet to hear.

[bhodges]

I second (and third) many of these good suggestions.  The Jansons DVD of the Shostakovich Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is one of my favorite opera DVDs of any kind, for the outstanding playing of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in the score, and the intriguingly minimal production. 

I've heard (and seen) Prokofiev's The Gambler and War and Peace, both with Gergiev and some of the same cast as on his recordings; that Prokofiev box would definitely be a recommendation.  No one else has championed those operas in the way Gergiev has, and they're all worthy of more exposure.

And yes, Peter Grimes and Billy Budd are among Britten's best works.  I've not seen the Vickers DVD, but I've heard the audio and it's great.  The Met's recent DVD with Anthony Dean Griffey has some stunning singing and orchestral work, too (under Donald Runnicles). 

And a huge "yes" to all the Janáček operas.  I don't even know how to pick one; the ones I've heard have all been magnificent.

--Bruce